STAND STRONG AND REMAIN STEADFAST
(6-minute read)
People today tend to remember only what they last saw on the news or on social media. In contrast, we have a God with rich memories. Hence, the Bible is an important source of record to help us remember who He is in our response to life. There are numerous commands in the Bible telling us not to forget His instructions and His commands. Depending on the version, the word “remember” appears in the Bible from 148 times in the King James Version (KJV) to 231 times in the New International Version (NIV). Some translations use synonyms like “do not forget”, “call to mind”, or “recall” instead of the word “remember”.
We are a people with a collective memory that gives us a shared perspective of life. And our collective remembering makes us who we are and guides our response to all that happens in and around us.
The Bible also has reminders phrased as ‘IF’ sentences. For instance, ‘if’ can be used to remind all believers to reflect on their collective behaviour. “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and forgive their sins and heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14).
It is so important for believers to not just be cruising in life - doing only what is enough and necessary to feel safe in the grace of God. We live in a VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous) world that is increasingly chaotic as the Bible has predicted long ago. But it does not give us the permission to be blasé about the chaotic world that we are living in. The lack of purposeful living can lead us to a slow decline in effective living for Christ. We must habitually think hard about what we can do to live beyond self-preservation. What is the Lord saying to us in such times as this.
After God had delivered the Israelites from generations of oppression and taken them through the Red Sea, the liberated and resettled people struggled in their new neighbourhood. The safe place that God took them to, felt strange because they knew oppression and trauma better than they knew peace and safety. In no time, they began to retraumatize themselves with continuous conflicts. They were not happy about this or that; and had disputes about almost everything. This greatly aggrieved God. And in the third month, Moses was called to an urgent meeting with God to remind the people what He had done and how they were to respond in facing their new world.
1. REMEMBER GOD’S PRESENCE
Exodus 19:1 tells us that the Israelite diaspora “entered the Desert of Sinai, and Israel camped there in the desert in front of the mountain.” No one recognized the new address or the mountain before them. Only Moses was familiar with the symbolism of mountains because that was where he first encountered God in a burning bush at Horeb – the ‘mountain of God’ (Exodus 3:1).
To Moses, the mountain was where it all started. It triggered memories of God’s call on his life. Who could forget that conversation?
(Moses’ conversation with God)
God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”
And Moses said, “Here I am.”
“Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals,
for the place where you are standing is holy ground.”
Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God… And now the cry of the Israelites has reached me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them.
So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring my people the Israelites out of Egypt.”
Storms can minimize the presence of God in any situation. Therefore, we must never forget our conversations with God during storms.
What are the memory triggers of God’s presence for you? Write them down to keep a record you can refer to and thank God for. We long only for what we had experienced before and no longer have. Therefore, we must not forget where it all started. Remembering God’s presence in different situations alleviates helplessness and magnifies our consciousness of Him. This, however, does not replace our need for each other, nor is it a justification for withdrawing from community life.
2. REMEMBER GOD’S GOODNESS AND FAITHFULNESS
When we sing songs like “All my life You have been faithful, all my life You have been so so good, In every breath that I am able, I will sing of the goodness of God!”, they draw out memories we don’t usually pay attention to. Songs like this trigger our emotional memory and help us recall our past experience of God’s goodness and faithfulness. They create a sense of gratitude towards Him.
To be sure, God is not in the business of making us feel good. Gratitude is not a feeling of elevated emotions but a relational bond that is strengthened when we reflect on how God (and others) had been there for us before. God knew only too well how the newly set free Israelites could be so overwhelmed with their new lives that they lose sight of His enduring goodness and faithfulness. Hence, He issued this reminder to the Israelites: “You yourselves have seen what I did to Egypt, and how I carried you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.” (Exodus 19:4).
Articulating our thankfulness to God strengthens our trust in Him. Trust keeps us steadfast when we, like the Israelites travelling on desert sand, step into terrains that our feet are not familiar with. As He had been with the Israelites, God is still actively and intimately involved in our lives today. And we can trust that He cares for all humanity in the same way.
3. REMEMBER GOD’S ULTIMATE PURPOSE
God wanted the Israelites to know this enduring truth, “Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine, you will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19: 5-6).
For the Israelites who had been living as slaves in Egypt for 400 years, this was a new conversation with God. For generations, their conversations had centred around survival issues like hardships, mistreatments, and scarcities. While they might have dreamed of freedom, it was an idea so remote that they likely only cried out to God in their private thoughts. (But God heard their cries!).
Remembering God’s ultimate purpose in our lives enables us to make a difference in big and small ways each day. As believers, we don’t just take up space on earth, we are catalysts and initiators of transformation for God’s kingdom. Yet, few of us are true initiators; we act only in response to triggers. So we cannot be naïve and assume that the aspiration to live out God’s higher purposes comes naturally to all of us. Kingdom aspiration takes shape in us only when we participate as active members in vibrant faith communities.
However, living out God’s higher purposes creates constant tension in our lives because we are naturally self-focused, and we prioritize safety over stepping out of our comfort zones. We religiously stick to established routines of life, and believe we are living a great Christian life! It seems strange that as God’s chosen people, we make it a goal to live care-free lives disengaged from global affairs. But when problems persist or troubles escalate, we panic because in our tunnel vision, we see only ourselves and not God’s grand scheme of things.
As members of God’s holy nation, let’s stand strong and remain steadfast by what we remember – individually and collectively - God’s presence with us, His goodness and faithfulness, and our ultimate purpose in life to glorify Him.
This is a summary and reflection based on a virtual BIR session held on 13 September 2025.
